On this day in 1848, composer Gaetano Donizetti died in the house of a noble family, the Scotti, in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy at the age of 49. Born Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti in Bergamo’s Borgo Canale quarter located just outside the city walls on 29 November 1797. Altogether Donizetti wrote about 70 operas. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer’s ninth opera, led to his move to that city and the composition of 28 operas which were given their premieres at that house or in one of the city’s smaller houses including the Teatro Nuovo or the Teatro del Fondo. This continued until the production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844. In all, Naples presented 51 of Donizetti’s operas. During this period, success came primarily with the comic operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. However, the situation changed with the appearance in 1830 of the serious opera, Anna Bolena which was the first to make a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene. After 1830, his best-known works included comedies such as L’elisir d’amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843) and historical dramas such as Lucia di Lammermoor (the first to be written by librettist Salvadore Cammarano) in 1835, as well as Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been written to Italian librettos. After moving to Paris in 1838, Donizetti set his operas to French texts; these include La favorite and La fille du régiment and were first performed in that city from 1840 onward. It appears that much of the attraction of moving to Paris was not just for larger fees and prestige, but his chafing against the censorial limitations which existed in Italy, thus giving him a much greater freedom to choose subject matter. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of bel canto opera during the first fifty years of the Nineteenth Century. Donizetti married Virginia Vasselli.
The Final Footprint – Donizetti was entombed in the cemetery of Valtesse but in the late 19th century his body was transferred to Bergamo’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. His tomb is located to the left of the entrance, past the sepulchre of Cardinal Guglielmo Longhi, on the rear wall near the tomb of his master Simone Mayr (1852).
On this day in 1973, painter, draughtsman, and sculptor, Pablo Picasso died at his home in Mougins, France at the age of 91. Born on 25 October 1881 in the city of Málaga in the Andalusian region of Spain and baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. A prolific artist, he is perhaps best known as a pioneer, along with Georges Braque, of the avant-garde art movement Cubism which revolutionized European painting and sculpture. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments in a variety of styles that he helped develop and worked in brought him universal renown making him one of the best-known figures in 20th century art. By 1905 Picasso became a favorite of the American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein and through her he met Henri Matisse, who would become a lifelong friend and rival. Picasso married twice; Olga Khokhlova (1918-1955 her death) and Jacqueline Roque (1961-1973 his death). Throughout his life Picasso maintained a number of mistresses and muses in addition to his wife or primary partner, including; Fernande Olivier who appears in many of his Rose period paintings; Marcelle Humbert, whom he called Eva Gouel and to whom he included declarations of his love in many of his Cubist works; Marie-Thérèse Walter, the model for his Le Rêve (The Dream) (1932); Dora Maar, the model for Dora Maar au Chat (1941) and Weeping Woman; Françoise Gilot; Geneviève Laporte. Picasso said; “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”
The Final Footprint – Picasso is interred at the Chateau of Vauvenargues near Aix-en-Provence, a property he had acquired in 1958 and occupied with Jacqueline. His grave is decorated with his own sculpture “Woman with the Vase” (1933), which was shown during the World exhibition of 1937 in Paris.
On this day in 1990, national poster child for HIV/AIDS Ryan White died at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, at the age of 18. Born Ryan Wayne White on December 6, 1971 in Kokomo, Indiana. As a hemophiliac, he became infected with HIV from a contaminated factor VIII blood treatment and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, as AIDS is not an airborne disease and spreads solely through body fluids, but AIDS was poorly understood by the general public at the time. When White tried to return to school, many parents and teachers in Howard County rallied against his attendance due to concerns of the disease spreading through bodily fluid transfer. A lengthy administrative appeal process ensued, and news of the conflict turned Ryan into a popular celebrity and advocate for AIDS research and public education. Surprising his doctors, Ryan White lived five years longer than predicted. He died one month before his high school graduation.
Before Ryan White, AIDS was a disease stigmatized as an illness impacting the gay community, because it was first diagnosed among gay men. That perception shifted as Ryan and other prominent straight HIV-infected people such as Magic Johnson, Arthur Ashe and the Ray brothers appeared in the media to advocate for more AIDS research and public education to address the epidemic. The U.S. Congress passed a major piece of AIDS legislation, the Ryan White CARE Act, shortly after White’s death. The Act has been reauthorized twice; Ryan White Programs are the largest provider of services for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.
The Final Footprint
“We owe it to Ryan to make sure that the fear and ignorance that chased him from his home and his school will be eliminated. We owe it to Ryan to open our hearts and our minds to those with AIDS. We owe it to Ryan to be compassionate, caring and tolerant toward those with AIDS, their families and friends. It’s the disease that’s frightening, not the people who have it.”
—Former US President Ronald Reagan, April 11, 1990
On March 29, 1990, White entered Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis with a respiratory tract infection. As his condition deteriorated, he was sedated and placed on a ventilator. He was visited by Elton John and the hospital was deluged with calls from well-wishers.
Over 1,500 people attended Ryan’s funeral on April 11, a standing-room only event held at the Second Presbyterian Church on Meridian Street in Indianapolis. White’s pallbearers included Elton John, football star Howie Long and Phil Donahue. Elton John performed “Skyline Pigeon” at the funeral. The funeral was also attended by Michael Jackson and Barbara Bush. On the day of the funeral, Ronald Reagan wrote a tribute to Ryan that appeared in The Washington Post. Reagan’s statement about AIDS and White’s funeral were seen as indicators of how greatly White had helped change perceptions of AIDS.
Ryan White is buried in Cicero, Indiana close to the former home of his mother. In the year following his death, his grave was vandalized on four occasions. As time passed, White’s grave became a shrine for his admirers.
#RIP #OTD 1993 contralto, first African-American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, civil rights activist, Marian Anderson died in Portland, Oregon, of congestive heart failure, aged 96. Eden Cemetery, in Collingdale, Pennsylvania
#RIP #OTD in 1996 actor (Shane, The Undefeated, Chisum, The Last Picture Show, Junior Bonner, The Evening Star), Team Roping World Champion cowboy Ben Johnson died; heart attack; Leisure World in Mesa, Arizona, aged 77. Pawhuska City Cemetery, Oklahoma
#RIP #OTD in 2013 actress (Mickey Mouse Club, Beach Party films) and singer Annette Funicello died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, California from complications attributed to multiple sclerosis, age 70. Cremation
#RIP #OTD in 2013 actress (Don Quixote, Locura de amor, Cárcel de mujeres, Furia roja, Vera Cruz, Serenade, Run of the Arrow, El último cuplé, La Violetera), singer Sara Montiel died at her home in Madrid from congestive heart failure, aged 85. Sacramental de San Justo, Madrid
#RIP #OTD in 2013 first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher died after suffering a stroke at her suite in the Ritz Hotel, London, aged 87. Cremated remains at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
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